Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Holdings Trimmed by Cross Staff Investments Inc

Cross Staff Investments Inc cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,923 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 4.0% of Cross Staff Investments Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Indie Asset Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 24,736 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,265,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $137.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.86. The stock has a market cap of $100.29 billion, a PE ratio of 41.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.